Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Technology (Underground) Words of the Year

In its 16th annual 'words of the year' vote, the American Dialect Society voted for their selections of Words of the Year. For these word experts and etymologists, the Word of the Year includes not just words but phrases as well. Words under consideration are not necessarily brand new, but they have to be notable and buzzworthy in the past year, in the manner of Time magazine’s Person of the Year. For example, President Bush's phrase "heck of a job" makes the cut.

This year's word list contains a number of interesting technology derived words which I shall endeavor to include in my daily conversations to the greatest extent possible. The truthiness of this statement is indisputable.

This years best new word is "Truthiness" which is the quality of stating concepts or facts one wishes or believes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true. Popularized by Stephen Colbert. Sez colbert “I don't trust books. They're all fact, no heart."

Podcast: a digital feed containing audio or video files for downloading to a portable MP3 player.

Lifehack: to make one’s day-to-day behaviors or activities more efficient. Also as a noun. Lifehacks apply the make-do, can-do, what-will-it-do attitude that originated in computer hacking.

Patent troll: a person or business, especially a lawyer, who applies for or owns a patent with no intention of developing the product but with every intention of launching lawsuits against patent infringers.

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Named to Wired Magazine’s Smart List, William Gurstelle is a bestselling author, registered engineer, and professional speaker. The author of Backyard Ballistics, Absinthe and Flamethrowers, and seven other books, he is recognized for his particular talent for making science and technology accessible, intriguing, and – most of all – fun to all readers and audiences. Having sold more nearly half a million books, he is one of the world’s most widely read authors on science and technology.
In addition, he is a contributing editor for Popular Mechanics and Make Magazine. He is a frequent contributor to Wired, Popular Science, and a book reviewer for the Wall Street Journal.
He has been heard on NPR’s Science Friday and Weekend Edition with Scott Simon, and has made numerous appearances on PBS, the History Channel and the Discovery Channel. William and his books have been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the London Daily Telegraph, Popular Mechanics, USA Today, and scores of other newspapers and magazines